DUMPSTER DIVER OF THE WEEK
Total Moves: 27 (Great Job!)
Dumpster Divers of the Week: Paul & Dave (6 moves each)
Bye weeks have been brutal this year especially with so few viable TEs and Ks in the NFL. It’s tough times for one more week but the contenders in this league have responded with an unrelenting flurry of moves. Seven teams in this league have combined for over 50 moves in the last two weeks. It’s been a torrid pace. Getting hard to keep track of who’s available. Good thing we let The President take over last week, cause he’s not as keen on the details. There were some really awesome moves made last week that he kinda glossed over. But this week did not disappoint. Our two DDotW’s both made Power Moves dropping future Hall of Fame running backs:
LEVEON BELL:
The Le’veon drop has been inevitable for several weeks. Conner’s been so good there’s no way Lev would have taken back his work-horse status if he had showed up. The Ravens are gonna be awesome next year. Gentrifiers picked up Tyler Lockett to fill that spot so now he has almost as many guys that I drafted as I do.
LESEAN MCCOY:
We didn’t love Shady coming into this season, but we never thought it would be this bad. It's hard to believe that without any major injuries Josh Adams and Rashaad Penny are both be rostered and Shady isn’t. Crazy.
KEKE COUTEE COVERAGE
Keke is eying a return to action this week against Washington.
He's had a very Fuller-esque rookie season so far - he's been GREAT for two games and injured for 7. In fact, one might say that the entire 2018 rookie class has been on a Fuller-like trajectory, vacillating from superstar to non-factor on a weekly basis. Early last year we made a really big deal about how sexy the 2017 rookie class was. The DYM Scholars who went after those guys again this year have been greatly rewarded. There are currently 18 of last year's rookies on Special Ed rosters. Almost all of them were drafted, and never dropped. Right now 5 of the top 10 RBs and 2 top-10 QBs (including the #1 overall player) are 2017 rookies. But this year's class has had a much harder time sticking on fantasy rosters. Saquon Barkley has no competition what so ever for Fantasy Rookie of the Year. Saquon was appropriately hyped in the pre-season, a very solid 1st round pick. But the rest of the class has not been as easy to nail down. Of the 12 rookies currently on Special Ed rosters, 7 were added in the last month. Rookies were involved in a total of 21 moves since early October. Rookies seem to be the hottest commodity on the waiver wire lately, and the driving force behind the highest move-volume weeks of the year so far.
Which brings us to our favorite moves of the week: LAMAR JACKSON and RASHAAD PENNY!!!
In our entire fantasy career we have made very few moves that we're as excited about as the two we made last week. Besides Barkley, Lamar Jackson and Rashaad Penny might have been the top two most sexiest rookies this spring. If we had to draft in April we would have drafted both of these guys WAY too high. They are perhaps the two best ATHLETES in this year’s draft (besides Saquon) but both their teams had gotten good enough production from the players' respective positions that they have not yet felt a need to turn to their first-round rookies. UNTIL NOW. As of today, Penny is coming off a break-out game and Jackson is slated to start with Flacco injured. Both players' statuses for this week still remain to be confirmed in the Wednesday and Thursday practice reports, so they both could be dropped before Sunday. It’ll be sad, but not totally unexpected. That cycle from HYPED to DROPPED within a week is the perfect metaphor for the entire 2018 rookie class.
FOOD BEEF 2018 SANDWICH TOUR!!!!!!!!!!!
Fratelli's Deli 42 Main st., Madison
Fratellis is the fake Zappias of Madison.
We noticed right away that a couple of the sandwiches on Fratelli's menu were exactly the same as the specials at Zappia's. Most of us know Zappia's in Summit is one of the North Jersey's PREMIER delis. Their "Zap" sandwich is one of our all-time favorites, it's become a standard by which all other sandwiches are judged.
Legend has it that Fratelli's was established by Zappia's cousin many years ago, but they eventually sold the business to the current owners. The new Fratelli's iteration of The Zap left much to be desired. Not enough meat, not enough oil or spices and WAY too many hot cherry peppers. It was almost unenjoyable. HUGE disappointment.
Cynthia had a tuna salad which was actually very tasty, so, one bonus point for that.
SCORE: 7.5/10
HALL OF SHAME
Our biggest regret of the 2018 Fantasy Season is not drafting James Conner.
A close second is not joining Randall Cummingham’s other league. We thought about it. Shoulda done it, coulda been fun. Ever since, we can’t help feeling like [REDACTED] being here is karmic retribution for shunning RC’s offer.
We don’t like doing this Hall of Shame every week, when [REDACTED] wins it makes us all look bad. We don’t deserve it, this is a good league! But the embarrassment of shaming ourselves on the internet is sort of cathartic since we do feel personally responsible for it all.
Maybe we can get like an exchange program with Rob’s other league. Send [REDACTED] over there for a real player.
WHO’S HOT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Even though they didn’t get a win in week 10, The Illustrious Special Ed Champion, eat a snickers bitch, is the HOTTEST team in the league for the second straight week. They probably have the best chance at the playoffs of any .500 or under team. Their next two games are against Jeff and Jeffery.
Believeland has been another team on the rise, but they have yet to have two good games in a row this year. That’s a pattern they’ll have to find a way out of this week. With only 3 games left they can’t afford to put up two more stinkers.
We’re not at all surprised to see the once mighty Team Meh and PHP at the bottom of the heat index. They each only made one move over the last two weeks, the hottest waiver period of the year. There’s a fine line between patience and complacency in this game. You gotta stay active, folks.
AMERICAS GAME OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!
BELIEVELAND vs TEAM MEH
Prediction Record: 8-3
The standings are getting tighter every week but with Paul, Doug and Dave all could reach 7 wins with an upset or two which would shut the door on The Champ, Jeff and [REDACTED]. The first crucial upset opportunity is right here with the RED HOT Believeland facing the ICE COLD Team Meh.
Team Meh’s roster has atrophied. They have only made 5 moves to date, the fewest moves of any real team this year. Sure they looked good early in the season but it’s always dangerous to get too comfortable with one’s roster especially such a veteran-laden one as this. The team is dependent on historically injured players like Travis Kelce, Allen Robinson and Adrien Peterson. Although Kelce and Robinson are still getting it done on 2 of the league’s top offenses, attrition has hit the R-words. Peterson was a nice surprise for his fantasy owners this year but injuries to the offensive line should put a damper on his production going forward. Hopefully Stanley will keep the faith in old man Peterson and roll him out there for a few more weeks.
Of all the 5-5 teams, Believeland has the toughest road to 7 wins. They have no games remaining against under .500 teams. He’s got a weird team but it’s been effective from time to time. We don’t think we’ve ever seen a team with a “zero-RB” draft end up with 6 RBs total and no WRs on the bench. It’s one of the hallmarks of the great dumpster divers that they not be bound by preconceived roster-construction concepts. They have made the second most moves this year and are poised for a strong playoff run.
The most crucial player on this team is Tyreek Hill. Just as Believeland has not yet had two high-score games in a row this year, neither has Hill. We think this is the week he does it. We’ve been looking forward to this week’s Chiefs-Rams GAME OF THE YEAR for months. If Hill doesn’t blow up in this one we’ll be very disappointed.
PREDICTION: BELIEVELAND – 149.21
TEAM MEH – 130.01
SPECIAL ED MATCH-UPS!!!!!!!!!!
IN SAQUON WE TRUST vs [REDACTED]
Free win for The Commish! Congrats, buddy. See ya in the Playoffs.
THE COMMISH WINS!!!!!!!!!!
EAT A SNICKERS BITCH vs QUE LASTIMA
Que Lastima has turned up the heat recently but Snickers is Scott Storch hot. He still doesn’t really have any RBs but Cam and two WRs should be enough to get this one done.
EAT A SNICKERS BITCH WINS!!!!!!!!!
POLK HIGH PANTHERS vs RANDALL CUMMINGHAM
This is a must-win for both teams. For RC, he’ll need to win out and get some help. Unfortunately for him he won’t get to play against those shitty Patriots that Matt has been stubbornly starting all year. With Luck on his side, Matt is a BIG favorite in this game and we think he'll win big.
POLK HIGH PANTHERS WINS!!!!!!!!!!!
GENTRIFIERS vs DEFEND YOUR MOVES
We still don’t know who’s starting for us at QB or FLEX, but at least all of my guys are football players. After a long few weeks rummaging in the dumpster, Dave is gonna start 3 Cooks and a Barber. A fantasy team full of puppy trainers and mechanics might have worked in the 90s but not in this competitive era.
DEFEND YOUR MOVES WINS!!!!!!!!!!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!
